Australian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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gelgoog

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It is the largest defence acquisition project in the history of the nation, but the $50 billion, or is it $80 billion, project to replace the ageing Collins Class submarines with 12 regionally-superior submarines is in deep water as growing concerns about cost, capability and delivery time frame begin to sow confusion.
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I thought at the time of this deal that Australia would have been better served with the Japanese Soryu. Sure, Japanese gear is expensive, but at least it was a known quantity. The program with the French already had the chance to face cost escalations, because let's face it, it's a new submarine which merely uses some technical solutions from the next generation French nuclear submarine class.
 

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Leonardo’s Oto Marlin 40 selected for Australian Project SEA 1180 Phase 1 OPVs

The Australian arm of German shipbuilder Lürssen has selected Leonardo’s Oto Marlin 40 mm gun mount to equip the offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) being built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under the Project SEA 1180 Phase 1.

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Leonardo's Oto Marlin 40 mm gun mounting was displayed on a Lu¨rssen Australia OPV for the RAN at Euronaval 2018 in Paris. (Luca Peruzzi)

“Leonardo has been selected as preferred bidder for arming the new OPVs with our Oto Marlin 40 mm gun system. We are currently engaged in negotiations, being confident to sign a contract by year end,” Marco Buratti, Leonardo’s international marketing and strategic campaigns director, told Jane'sduring the Euronaval 2018 exhibition in Paris.


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Rheinmetall Australia names Supacat first major supplier for Boxer CRVs...

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Rheinmetall Defence Australia has announced its first major Australian supplier contract for the production of its 211 Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles for the Australian Army.

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Melbourne-based specialist vehicles company, Supacat Asia Pacific, has signed a partnership agreement with Rheinmetall for the design and manufacture of sub-systems for the Australian fleet of Boxer armored vehicles. The partnership agreement will at least double Supacat’s engineering workforce, with the creation of at least 20 new engineering roles.

The Boxers replace the ASLAVs (Australian Light Armoured Vehicle), which are more than 20 years old. Their role is to locate, monitor and engage with enemy forces and provide security to Australian forces. The vehicles will fill seven different roles on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, joint fires, surveillance, ambulance, battlefield repair and recovery. The total acquisition cost of the vehicles is AU$5.2 billion. The Australian industry content of the project was raised significantly through the tender process to over 50 per cent. Australian industry will contribute over 75% for sustainment of the vehicles. Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said that the workforce that will deliver the Boxer vehicles will continue to be used to support sustainment, progressive development and upgrades as well as potential export opportunities. The first vehicles are expected to be available for training in 2020.

In March 2018, the Boxer CRV edged out the adversary, BAE Systems/Patria AMV35, in a close contest that saw initial delays as Australian Industry Content considerations were sorted and both vehicles were put through a rigorous Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA).

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The Australian Navy has commissioned its first experimental squadron

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The Australian Navy has commissioned its first experimental squadron to explore the use of unmanned aircraft systems at sea. There have been a number of people working with unmanned aircraft since the 1950s, when towing aircraft were used in training exercises.

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Since 2012, newer models of these aircraft, which function like a highly sophisticated drone, have been equipped with a satellite and cameras. A group of sailors have been doing preliminary experimentation, gaining flight experience and learning how to launch the aircraft from ships while on deployment.

The Navy is currently operating two systems, which squadron 822X will continue experimenting with. Lieutenant Commander Ben Crowther has been working with the Naval Unmanned Aircraft Systems Unit (NUASU) for the past few years before the formal transition to 822X Squadron.

He said it had been a huge learning curve for everyone involved, but had also been successful in a multitude of ways from cost-effectiveness to the safety of personnel. The Schiebel Camcopter S-100, which can carry payloads such as electro-optics and infrared sensors, is one aircraft being researched. This is a $2 million piece of equipment that can carry out of a number of functions traditionally done by manned helicopters.

While a regular helicopter would require three men to be on board and cost $60 million, this system is significantly cheaper and can carry out work that is risky for people normally on board. The Insitu ScanEagle, a small, long-endurance, low-altitude aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft used for identifying friends or foes at sea. ScanEagles and Camcopters are being used for surveillance, intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. The Navy will spend the next three to five years experimenting with unmanned aircraft systems before purchasing more in 2022-23. Commanding Officer Michael Rainey has taken over from Lieutenant Commander Crowther, and will lead the newly formed squadron moving forward.

"The purpose of the aircraft are to extend the eyes and ears of ships at sea," Commanding Officer Rainey said. "They have much greater endurance than our manned aircraft. For example, the fixed-wing ScanEagle can stay airborne for 12 hours on 3 litres of fuel. "The downside at the moment is they are not as reliable as our manned aircraft."

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BAE to complete Hawk Mk127 upgrades for Australia in 2019 ::

BAE Systems Australia's project to upgrade the entire fleet of Hawk Mk127 aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force is nearly complete.

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Upgrade of the final Mk127 will deliver in 2019, capping the country's Lead-In Fighter Capability Assurance Program, a key component to RAAF's fast-jet training.

The upgrade includes new full mission simulators and more Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation, pods, which record the in-flight information for the Mk127.

RAAF has began using the Hawk aircraft that have been upgraded for training

The Australian Hawk Mk127 fleet has helped the fast-jet training system since 2001, enabling the RAAF to train aircrew for combat aircraft such as F/A-18 A/B Classic Hornets, F/A-18F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers.

The upgraded Hawk aircraft enables new training capabilities that include simulated radar, electronic warfare, digital mapping, ground proximity warning system and traffic collision avoidance. The upgrade also replaces two legacy synthetic training devices with three full-mission simulators provided by BAE.

"The upgraded BAE Systems Hawk aircraft provides the RAAF with a similar capability as the most modern Hawk aircraft around the world," Gabby Costigan, chief executive at BAE Systems Australia in said in a press release. "It's been a benchmark program in terms of how BAE Systems Australia and UK engineering teams, together with industry partners and RAAF technicians, have collaborated to deliver this enhanced capability ahead of schedule."

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Apr 21, 2018
Dec 22, 2017
and Australian Defence Force demonstrates cooperative engagement capability

17 April 2018
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while now (dated 08 November 2018)
Australia and United States share data using Cooperative Engagement Capability
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In a first for our respective navies, HMAS Hobart (III) has successfully tested a communications capability, proving her ability to share sensor information and real-time combat system data with the United States Navy.

During training and testing near Hawaii, HMAS Hobart established secure data links with the US Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer USS John Finn and shared tracking and fire control data across the two ships.

Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said the trials were a significant milestone in the testing and qualifying of Hobart’s combat and weapons systems.

“These trials are the culmination of 12 months of preparations and demonstrate Hobart’s formidable capability,” Minister Pyne said.

“Australia is the first country outside the United States with Cooperative Engagement Capability, and so this demonstration marked the first time this Capability was proven between two navies”.

Commanding Officer HMAS Hobart, Captain John Stavridis, said the visit to the US had proven how closely the Australian and US navies can work together.

“Connecting and sharing data with the US Navy like this is an important step in increasing our interoperability with them, especially during linked task group operations at sea,” Captain Stavridis said.

“Sharing information like this between ships at sea means that ships in a task group can know and respond to what is going on, including sharing tracking and targeting data.”

“It means that a ship can detect and, if needed, engage a threat identified by another ship or aircraft, creating greater flexibility and better protection for all the ships involved.”
 
Naval Ship Management awarded AU$1.5b Australian LHD maintenance deal
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it's not my immediate concern LOL but about US$1b for maintenance sounds quite a bit to me considering they cost $1b each
The Australian government has awarded Naval Ship Management (NSM), a 50/50 joint venture between Babcock and UGL, a contract for the maintenance of the Royal Australian Navy’s two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks.

The contract is worth around AU$1.5 billion, according to Babcock, and has an initial duration period of five years with two further five year extensions.

In addition to the two LHDs, the contract includes the maintenance of the ships’ 12 associated amphibious landing crafts. The joint venture will begin the work to sustain and support these vessels in July 2019.

NSM provides sustainment support to the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of ANZAC class frigates through to the end of their life. Babcock also supports the Australian Defence Force’s ground support equipment.

“NSM has a proven track record in innovation, performance, collaboration and building the Australian workforce capability with similar sustainment programmes,” Australian defense minister Christopher Pyne said. “We are looking forward to working with them to ensure safe delivery of the LHD assets, ensuring they are both available and performing as required.”

“We are delighted to have been chosen for this strategically important role which builds on our existing relationship with the Australian Defence Force,” Babcock chief executive Archie Bethel said. “Through NSM we will apply Babcock’s digitally enabled asset management capabilities to support this strategically important capability over the next decade and beyond.”

The 27,000-ton Canberra-class amphibious assault ships are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy. They were commissioned in 2014 and 2015 after being delivered by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia.
 
Oct 2, 2018
Dec 12, 2017
while now
Naval Group: Talks with Australia still underway for sub buy
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and
Australia, Naval Group conclude sub negotiations
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Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne confirmed that the Australian government has finally
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for the formal signing of a strategic partnering agreement for 12 large conventionally-powered attack submarines from Naval Group.

Australia is acquiring the vessels under its $50 billion (U.S. $36.12 billion) Project Sea 1000 (Future Submarine) to replace its existing fleet of six Collins Submarines from the early 2030s. The subs will be the ‘Attack’ class with the lead vessel named HMAS Attack. They will be fabricated in Australia to a design previously known as the Shortfin Barracuda 1A.

Recent local media reports have suggested that negotiations between the parties had stalled, placing the government’s timeline for the Collins replacement in jeopardy, but Pyne said on Thursday the program was still on track.

“There’s been a lot of ill-informed mythmaking around the negotiations but I’m very happy to say today the negotiations are complete,” Pyne said during sod-turning event at the site of the Future Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne in South Australia. “The strategic planning agreement will be signed in February next year and we can continue to get on with the submarine project, which has been under the design and mobilization contract for the last two years.”

Declining to provide details of the intricacies of the agreement due to their commercial nature, Pyne said the negotiations were officially concluded at an Australian Government National Security Committee meeting in Melbourne on Dec. 10.

“Suffice to say the Australian government’s interests, the Australian taxpayer’s interests, have been taken care of,” he said. “Naval Group Australia will deliver 12 regionally-superior submarines on time and on budget.”

Australia’s Chief of Navy, Vice Adm. Mark Noonan, also denied reports of an emerging capability gap between the retirement of the first Collins submarines and the Attack boats entering service, which some analysts have suggested might require a ‘Plan B’ to be formulated.

“I don’t believe that’s the case,” he told reporters. “We’ve got a very solid plan to ensure that there is no gap in our nation’s submarine capability, and there is a very advanced plan that will see a number of our current Collins class submarines going through a life of type extension program, which will ensure that capability gap doesn’t exist.”
 
Nov 15, 2018
Apr 21, 2018
while now (dated 08 November 2018)
Australia and United States share data using Cooperative Engagement Capability
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related:
Australia’s lead AWD destroyer returns from weapons, systems trials off US coast
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Air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart, the first Royal Australian Navy Aegis-equipped ship, returned home after wrapping up weapons and systems trials with the United States Navy off the US West Coast.

Hobart returned to Sydney after spending three months in the US.

In addition to testing the Aegis system, Hobart also became the first ship of its class and the first US Navy ally to demonstrate an ability to operate in synch with US forces through the
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(CEC) – a sensor data sharing system.

The validation included a series of at sea tests known as combat system ship qualification trials (CSSQT) aimed at achieving a sustainable level of combat and weapon system readiness.

Commanding officer of HMAS Hobart, Captain John Stavridis says the Americans threw everything at his people, who passed with flying colors.

“We were presented with some of the world’s toughest and most challenging threats; modern anti-ship missiles, maritime strike aircraft, fighters and high speed attack craft. On every occasion we successfully defended all threats,” said CAPT Stavridis.

HMAS Hobart returned to Fleet Base East to be met by the Fleet Commander, RADM Jonathan Mead. RADM Mead was also proud of the achievements of HMAS Hobart.

“This ship represents the future of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatants: capable, competent and lethal.

“With her recently commissioned sister ship, HMAS Brisbane, and soon to be delivered NUSHIP Sydney they will be able to defend our Fleet against any threat.”

Hobart is the first of three destroyers in her class to be delivered by AWD Alliance. The other two ships are called Brisbane (III) and Sydney (V).

Hobart was launched in May 2015 and started builder’s sea trials in September 2016.

The destroyers are 146.7 metres long, have a top speed of 28 knots (52km/h), a range of about 5000 nautical miles and room for more than 200 crew.

They carry a range of weapons, detection and electronic warfare systems onboard, which include an Aegis threat tracking system, SPQ Horizon Search Radar, 48-cell vertical launch systems, a 5″ gun for coastal operations and two quad launchers of Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
 
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